Just one year can turn life on its head. For Jeswin and Lavisha, that year was 2014. They found each other online, and love didn’t quite push its way through at all. It lay dormant through conversations - both fun and mundane - on What’sApp, until something told the duo to meet.
It was a date! And Jeswin remembers this as the most beautiful day of his life. Quite clearly, he’d found the one person who was going to make life twice as good. Overjoyed that she felt the same way about it, their romance went into overdrive, tumbling over the days and weeks.
In just three months, they knew they wanted this feeling to last forever.
They got engaged formally and planned their wedding for a couple of months later. Everything was happening so quickly that it was after their formal engagement that he realised they had never really enjoyed a courtship and he had never proposed!
His friends and colleagues at work agreed that it was only apt that he go all out for the proposal. This was certainly unfamiliar territory, particularly as he’d never set up elaborate dates ever before.
A residential youth conference they were both part of came to the rescue. Being in charge of logistics gave him the perfect handle on the schedules and everything he needed for his big plan. He got in touch with Louise Remedios from Reynold Weddings who lent him a bunch of props for the decor.
Jeswin chose a gorgeous terrace overseeing the calm waters of the Mandovi and set up the space with dozens of flickering candles, drapes and heart-shaped balloons. Some even collected flowers leftover from an event and fashioned them into a gorgeous backdrop against which Jeswin would ask the love of his life to marry him.
But how should he do it? His friends at the youth conference suggested a flash mob, but Jeswin side-stepped the suggestion knowing that Lavisha was an excellent dancer and it would be tough to impress her. With a bunch of musicians and singers among the friends’ circle, he opted for a romantic song instead. Some gave him a quick crash course in ballroom dancing. Lavisha’s friend convinced her to pack a cute outfit to wear at the conference without raising suspicions.
The terrace looked stunning and all that was left was to sweep Lavisha off her feet. Throwing her off-guard, he convinced her to dress up to head out for a short drive. On the way out, he made an excuse and told her they had to make a stop at the terrace to meet a friend. She tagged along completely clueless about the planned proposal.
The minute she opened the terrace door, her face transformed into the look of a little girl whose dreams had come true. All of their closest friends were together on that rooftop beautifully singing a song that pulled at heart strings. In the centre was a heart-shaped cake and a bunch of roses. Jeswin dropped to one knee and asked her to marry him. Since they had previously confirmed their engagement, he already knew the answer!
They hugged and made their way to the centre for their first dance together as a formally and informally engaged couple. The soft, soothing music and singing by their friends opened their eyes to the romance that revolves around falling in love. Lavisha was just tall enough to rest her head against his heart and utter the words that have rung true since the moment they met: “We are made for each other!”
